What is a Healthy BMI for Joint Replacement Surgery?

At some point, one may come to realize that being overweight is also causing joint pain. In fact, every pound of excess weight adds four times the amount of stress to the joints. You’ve likely noticed the discomfort when walking for longer periods of time or going up or downstairs. You may at first think that you may have “bad knees” and blame the pain on that, but the culprit is really the weight.

As a result, cartilage wears down and you are more likely to develop osteoarthritis. At some point, the pain and discomfort may become so unbearable, you may start thinking about getting joint replacement surgery.

Before even making that decision, there’s something else that you need to consider: What is a healthy BMI for joint replacement surgery?

WHAT IS BMI?

BMI stands for Body Mass Index. Instead of just taking into account a person’s weight, it also factors in their height. Generally speaking, it’s a tool used to determine whether a person is at a healthy weight.

To calculate your BMI, take your weight in kilograms (1 pound equals 0.45 kilograms), and divided it by the square of your height in meters (1 inch equals 0.02 meters). For those of you who enjoy math as much as walking barefoot over hot coals, here’s a BMI calculator.

What BMI is Considered Underweight, Normal, Overweight and Obese?

A person is considered at a healthy weight if their BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9. Anything between 25 and 29.9 is considered overweight. A BMI between 30 and 40 is considered obese, while anything over 40 is morbidly obese.

While BMI may serve as a starting point, there are other things to consider: Measuring body mass index doesn’t take into account bone density, muscle mass, age, sex, or overall body composition.

For purposes of determining whether you’re a good candidate for joint replacement surgery, we’ll focus exclusively on BMI.

WHAT IS A HEALTHY BMI FOR JOINT REPLACEMENT SURGERY?

If your BMI is greater than 40, your doctor will postpone surgery until you lose weight. The reason for this is to reduce the risk of complications, such as infections, blood clots, or cardiopulmonary issues.

In addition, it’s also more difficult to administer anesthesia on a morbidly obese patient; physicians often have difficulty ensuring an adequate oxygen airflow and in locating veins to administer injections.

Finally, people with a BMI of 40 or higher are more likely to experience poor wound healing and/or a pulmonary embolism.

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